DARK AWAKENINGS: Signed, sealed, and delivered at last

Yesterday around 2 a.m. I hit the “send” button to email the completed manuscript of my forthcoming collection of horror stories and essays, Dark Awakenings, to its publisher, Mythos Books.

This was a long time coming.

People who liked my first book, Divinations of the Deep, have been asking me ever since its publication in 2002 when I would be writing another one. I did have a novella published in a standalone edition in 2004 (The God of Foulness, which is included in its entirety in Dark Awakenings), but that’s not quite the same thing. My answer was always noncommittal until I had amassed enough new material to constitute a next collection.

That amassing occurred two or three years ago. The scope and nature of that fabled next book became evident. It’s theme, that of dark and horrific religious and spiritual awakenings, became clear. (Of course this theme wasn’t surprising since it’s the one I involuntarily return to time and again.) Ever since then I’ve been steadily telling people that the book is forthcoming. At first my answers were semi-specific and involved the naming of years. Maybe in early 2007, I would say. And then that became late 2007. Then that became early 2008, and then late 2008. Then that became 2009. When I saw that maybe even 2009 wouldn’t happen either early or late, I reverted to the noncommittal approach and starting saying “forthcoming” without specifying exactly when it would come forth.

The delay was mine, not the publisher’s. I knew I had a real mountain to climb in terms of revising, editing, and shaping all of the material into the form I wanted. Some of the stories began to relive themselves from the ground up when I reapproached them, expanding their length and revising their prose with dramatic thoroughness. I’m a very slow writer, especially when it comes to fiction. For me the experience of authorship really is the way Walker Percy described it: a painful and messy process that’s analogous to a woman’s giving birth to a child.

So, to sum up, there have been delays.

Last week I was on spring break from my adjunct teaching job. I had told David at Mythos that I would use this time to get things done(really, honestly!) if at all possible. Early in the week I realized this simply wasn’t going to happen unless I positively buried myself in the project. So, along with maintaining my regular paid blogging activities, I ended up throwing myself wholeheartedly into Dark Awakenings and effectively not seeing my family or anybody else all week. I didn’t keep track of my total hours worked, but I know they were upwards of 60 and maybe 70. Of course I’m hardly the first or even the ten thousandth writer to push through such a marathon-sprint hybrid to the finish line. But it was the first time that I myself had ever done it. And I’m telling you, the fact that I’m able to type these very words right here kind of surprises me, so taxed are my authorial muscles.

Then again, I did get a nice flow going.

The verdict in terms of the book’s contents is that it includes seven stories, including the aforementioned novella, and three academic essays, for a total word count of about 116,000. This means it is substantially more substantial in total size than Divinations of the Deep, which was only the length of a novella even though it contained five stories.

In a future post I’ll list the final table of contents for Dark Awakenings, after I’ve conferred with the publisher. For now, I offer my thanks to everybody who has waited patiently while I held out for sacramental inspiration.

Related

About Matt Cardin

Teeming Brain founder and editor Matt Cardin is the author of DARK AWAKENINGS, DIVINATIONS OF THE DEEP, A COURSE IN DEMONIC CREATIVITY: A WRITER'S GUIDE TO THE INNER GENIUS, and the forthcoming TO ROUSE LEVIATHAN. He is also the editor of BORN TO FEAR: INTERVIEWS WITH THOMAS LIGOTTI and the academic encyclopedias MUMMIES AROUND THE WORLD; GHOSTS, SPIRITS, AND PSYCHICS: THE PARANORMAL FROM ALCHEMY TO ZOMBIES; and HORROR LITERATURE THROUGH HISTORY.

Many thanks, Stu. But wait a minute — did you say “another one”? Is that how it works? Crap. As one of those writers who tends to enjoy having written more than writing itself, I find this idea intimidating. 🙂

Olivia: Always excellent to hear from you. I agree with you about the cover art. Jason VH is possessed of awesome talent, skill, and vision, and I’m ever so pleased to see what he’s done for this book. Here’s hoping the contents fulfill the promise of the cover.

It looks lovely. I picked up your “Divinations of the Deep” last year after reading your analysis of Ligotti and Lovecraft for awhile. It was dark, strange, and delicious! I can’t wait to have this new collection in my hands. Keep up the good work, Mr. Cardin.

Many thanks, Mathew. Very glad you liked what you found in DIVINATIONS. I hope you like DARK AWAKENINGS as much or more. As for Jason, I receive a holiday card every year with new original art from him. Wonderful stuff indeed. Cool to hear that you’re in the inner circle as well. 🙂

Be sure to stop by my blog sometime and check out the page I have made for my high-fantasy series. It doesn’t have a whole lot right now, but I would also be willing (and eager) to email you a copy of the story as it stands and get your opinion on what is already present, if you are interested.

About

The Teeming Brain explores news, trends, and developments in religion, horror, science fiction, fantasy, the paranormal, creativity, consciousness, and culture. It also tracks apocalyptic and dystopian trends in science, technology, politics, ecology, economics, the media, the arts, education, and society at large. Its founder and primary author is Matt Cardin.

Subscribe

Enter your email address to subscribe to The Teeming Brain Weekly, a digest of each week's content delivered to your in-box every Sunday:

Email

Email Format

html

text

mobile

Or subscribe via RSS using your favorite reader:

Search this site

Search for:

Support Us

If you enjoy The Teeming Brain's ongoing exploration, please consider making a donation to help defray the time and costs associated with this project.

OPTION 1: You can make a recurring (and voluntary) monthly donation of $3:

OPTION 2: You can make a one-time donation in any amount you choose:

Whichever option you choose, be sure to subscribe (for free) to our blog updates as well. See above. And thank you sincerely for your support!

Praise for the Teem

FOR MATT CARDIN:

"[Dark Awakenings is] a thinking-man's book of the macabre...Cardin's tales are rich with references to Lovecraft, Nietzsche, and other writers whose work gives them unusual philosophic depth." – Publishers Weekly

“It’s a bold writer who, in this day and age, tries to make modern horror fiction out of theology, but Cardin pulls it off.” – Darrell Schweitzer

“In the tradition of Poe and Lovecraft, Cardin's accomplishments as a writer are paralleled by his expertise as a literary critic and theorist.” – Thomas Ligotti

“Matt Cardin is one of those rare horror authors who is also a true scholar and intellectual.” – Jack Haringa

FOR RICHARD GAVIN:

"Literate horror fans who have yet to encounter Canadian author Richard Gavin are in for a treat. The lyrical prose is often at a higher level than usual presentations of otherworldly demons and malevolent forces." – Publishers Weekly

"Richard Gavin is one of the bright new stars in contemporary weird fiction. His richly textured style, deft character portrayal, and powerful horrific conceptions make every one of his tales a pleasure to read." – S. T. Joshi

"Gavin's storytelling can be masterly. As with Machen and Blackwood at their best, an epiphany or illumination is achieved, though Gavin's mysticism is darker and distinctly his own." – Wormwood

FOR STUART YOUNG:

"No one can accuse Stuart Young of avoiding the big issues -- with insight and verve, he tackles head-on the existence of God, the mystery of human consciousness and the transformative effects of psychedelic drugs." – Mark Chadbourne